Three little words
by devilsspy
Summary: *spoilers for End in the Beginning* What might be going through Brennan's head when Booth utters that final line? This is a fic about what she might be thinking, one-shot. K to be safe.


A/N: ***Spoilers for End in the Beginning*** I was thinking about what Brennan might be thinking after Booth laid that massive shocker right at the end of the season finale. It only just aired in Australia so I'm a little behind but this is basically might be going on in Brennan's head at the time. It's my first fic (yes, I can hear you cringe) so forgive me if it isn't very good (and forgive the paragraphing, haven't quite worked it out fully), it was going around in my head so I had to get it down. Well, enjoy and review! Now I understand why people are always wanting others to review ;)

Disclaimer: I do not own anything, if I did Zach would still be part of the main cast.

Three little words

_Who are you?_

Those three little words hit Temperance Brennan and she felt like she could no longer breathe. In that moment her whole world had come crashing down. She couldn't believe it, she wouldn't believe it, she refused to accept what he had just asked her.  
If she had been thinking logically she would have realised that this was not as serious as it seemed, there was a high probability that coma patients would suffer some form of temporary memory loss. That this was most likely not permanent.  
But she wasn't thinking logically. How could she? A piece of herself had been ripped out. This was _Seeley Booth_, her partner, her _friend_. This was the man who had agreed to be the father of her child. To have him not remember who she was? It was worse than if he had never woken up at all.  
They had been through so much together, _too_ much for something like this to happen. Part of her wanted to believe that it was simply a joke, he would go, "Ha! You fell for it!" And then they'd laugh together and go to their diner and laugh about it some more. God, what she would give just to have him call her _Bones_ again.  
But it wasn't a joke. The proof was lying right in front of her, looking at her as if she were a stranger, no better than someone who he was passing by in the street. Just as she had finally been learning to open up and make those emotional connections with people that for so long she had refused to do, here was fate laughing at her, making her the fool.  
He'd become so much more than a friend to her, he had become someone she could _trust_, someone she could _rely_ on. He was always there when she needed him, and she knew that she could always count on him. Not even Russ, her own brother, was looked at or admired in the same light as he was by her.

For four days she had watched him in his sleep like state and wished for him to wake up. She had wanted to fix him, to make him better. So many times she had helped those who it was too late to save obtain some justice for their deaths, give them a little dignity. But now, when it mattered the most, she could do nothing for him as he lay there unconscious. And oh, it mattered _so_ much.  
_Why?_ A voice asked her, most likely her logic finally kicking in. _Why does it matter so much?_ She saw death every day, had learned for years how to detach herself from the victims, to be strong when others couldn't, why should this circumstance be any different?  
_Because it's life_, she answered back. _It's life, not death. And because it's _Booth. It was Booth. That was the answer, it was Booth and more importantly, it was _her_ Booth.  
All those times she had said that they were "just partners" suddenly came back to her, causing her awe, wonder, exasperation, franticness, all the emotions associated with sudden realisations.  
For it finally all made sense, they WEREN'T "just partners", people who were just partners didn't act like they did, weren't as close as they had become. There was a reason she'd asked him to be the father of her child. Yes he was smart and handsome and courageous but deep down shed known how she felt. Shed known and it had scared the hell out of her, so she shut the feelings out, pretended they weren't there.

But no one else made her feel the way she felt for him. It was a clash of emotions really, fear yet safety, anger yet joy. She'd had lovers before, shed had close friends. But none of those compared to this one individual, this single human being lying there in front of her.  
And then came the next realisation, but this one made her heart sink and she felt as though it might shatter into a million little pieces, and with it her entire existence, scattered out onto the floor for all to see and trod on.  
For now she realised that she herself had three little words of her own to tell him, three little words that she wanted to share with him.

_ Who are you?_ He had said to her.

_ I love you_ is what she wanted to say to _him_, yearning for him to say it back as well.

But all she had was _Who are you?_

All he had given to her was _Who are you?_

And now she knew that was all he would ever give, and it was breaking her heart.

_A/N: Okay, now that you've finished I hope you enjoyed!.....and virtual cookies for reviews (yes I know I'm stooping to bribery ^^)_


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